I have a V-Star 1100 & we're moving to Colorado from the Northwest. Since it's a carbed bike, many are saying I would be better off to sell the bike here & repurchase a bike with FI to ride in Colorado or taking trips from there to other places at sea level. Comments please?

You will definitely want to consider a re-jet. My Honda 750 suffered a severe drop in power over 7500 ft (starting at 5000), but it was pretty under powered to begin with.
I would say ride it a bit and see what you think. Snow is falling in the high country so you will likely have to wait until spring to get a ride an serious elevation.

The beauty of Fuel Injection is the ability to adjust the Fuel Air mixture for altitude and temperature. There is less oxygen at higher altitudes and when the air is very warm. Before Fuel Injection folks had motorcycles and cars in those areas. Just a thought.

There won't be much difference between your 1100 or an FI bike. It's only 5500' or so. I ride my 1100 from sea level to 10,000' and only have to bump up my idle a little at those very high altitudes. That's the beauty of a CV carb....they are darn good at self-adjustment for altitude. I'm normally riding between 2000'-5500'..... and have no absolutely no special adjustments.

You may consider dropping 1 jet size at some point in time, as you'll be just a touch rich on the mains, but not enough to worry about a whole lot.

Location: Iowa - East-central area just 16 miles North of Quad-Cities.

Posts: 13

dehingst-
I'm confused. You are in a V-Star forum on a thread for 1100s, but you say you would avoid "anything that has carbs". Since no V-Star has FI from the factory, have you replaced your carbs with fuel injection? If so, was it a difficult or expensive changeover?

Anyway, I've put 140,000 miles on my 2 carbureted V-Stars (650, 1100) over the past 9 years, riding from North Carolina to Denver/Colorado Springs ... without a single problem ... and nearly all on ethanol mixture, I'm wondering where you get your information?? All I've ever had to do is set the idle screw a tad higher when I get in higher altitudes, and all is fine.

dehingst-
I'm confused. You are in a V-Star forum on a thread for 1100s, but you say you would avoid "anything that has carbs". Since no V-Star has FI from the factory, have you replaced your carbs with fuel injection? If so, was it a difficult or expensive changeover?

Anyway, I've put 140,000 miles on my 2 carbureted V-Stars (650, 1100) over the past 9 years, riding from North Carolina to Denver/Colorado Springs ... without a single problem ... and nearly all on ethanol mixture, I'm wondering where you get your information?? All I've ever had to do is set the idle screw a tad higher when I get in higher altitudes, and all is fine.

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